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Herds of bison to return to US

Once the dominant animal in the American west, bison were slaughtered in huge numbers as European settlers pushed across the continent – 31 million between 1868 and 1881 alone. Now moves are afoot to bring them back.

“One hundred years from now wild bison will be an integral part of land use and management in the American west,” says Steven Sanderson, head of the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), who this week hosted a meeting in Denver, Colorado, on the ecological future of the animal. At the meeting, the American Prairie Foundation, a conservationist land trust, announced that it has released 20 pure-bred bison onto its …